Everything and More
by overtlycovert
Summary: Emma's once dreaded ride in the bus turns out to be one of the best 'mistakes' she had made in her life. Pre-Hell-o.


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A/N: I was bothered about Emma's resignation not being addressed at all in Hell-o, so here's a little insight on what I think could've happened. This was supposed to be posted waaaay earlier, but I never really got around to putting this scene in my head into words until now. This is my first ever Glee fic by the way, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much I enjoyed writing it.

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Emma hated riding buses. Or any other form of public transportation for that matter. Actually, she has a strong compulsion to stay away from anything that involved the word public. But there she was, on that sunny Monday morning, on her way to McKinley High aboard one of those moving microbe havens.

If the auto service shop hadn't been closed for the weekend, she wouldn't even be in such an unclean place. But by now her car was already a day overdue for its bi-monthly clean-up; she surely wasn't going to let that number get any higher- even if it meant doing the unthinkable.

Without her car, riding the bus was pretty much her only option. From her apartment, the school was too far to reach on foot and too near to hail a taxi to. No matter how unappealing it may be, it was clearly the most practical choice.

Emma had already wiped her seat twice yet the feeling that tens and thousands of germs still thrived on its pseudo-leather surface continued to linger within her. She considered wiping it again for a moment; but in the end, she opted not to. The brand she used claimed to remove 99.9% of germs after all.

And besides, she didn't want those teenaged girls seated across the aisle to give her another one of those weird looks again. She had no idea why, but she always found adolescents so intimidating.

With a sigh, she placed the wet wipes that she had been holding onto for dear life back inside her purse. Although she was still far from being at ease, her newfound determination to overcome her mysophobic tendencies wasn't about to let her down. Just the other day, she was able to stand not cleaning a ketchup stain on her blouse for a _full _minute. Sure, she dumped the said clothing in the washing machine and changed her outfit immediately afterwards- but progress is progress, no matter how small it may seem.

Emma couldn't help but smile when she looked at her wrist watch and found out that five minutes had passed since her last attempt to rid her seat of the unseen.

_Hey, I think I can do this_, she thought, her confidence slowly building up.

Unfortunately, this sense of accomplishment was short-lived. A coughing fit from one of the passengers was all it took to send her running back to square one. Seconds later, another person joined in. It didn't take long before the sound of people sneezing and blowing their noses overwhelmed her.

As if that wasn't bad enough, her peripheral simultaneously provided her with some rather unpleasant images that she can't seem to get out of her mind.

It was from that point on that she knew that she just had to get off that thing. Fast. She briefly pondered on ways to get the driver to stop the bus, but they all involved making a scene and landing in the headlines of that night's local news was definitely not on her agenda.

Thankfully, before worst came to worst, a relaxation technique that she learned from one of the many therapists she'd met crossed her mind. She closed her eyes, counted to ten and back, all the while taking slow, deep breaths. By the time she reached one again, her anxiety seemed to have disappeared.

After mentally berating herself for forgetting to bring a face mask despite knowing full-well that it was flu season, she decided to distract herself by shifting her gaze outside. A change of view was clearly what she needed. It proved to be quite effective, as the sight of the city's hustle and bustle took her mind away from the germ-infested metal prison she was currently in. So distracted was Emma that she didn't even notice that the bus had stopped moving.

They'd reached the bus stop. Passengers scrambled in and out of the vehicle; one of them stopped mid-step at the sight of her.

"Emma?" the man asked, with a contrast of uncertainty in his tone and hope in his eyes.

She was snapped out of her reverie almost instantly. She'd know that dreamy voice anywhere. Her heart raced a mile a minute as she turned to her left to face her real-life prince charming, Will Schuester.

Gone was the downcast look on his face when he saw that it really was her. "Emma!" he said her name again, this time with blatant enthusiasm.

Without wasting a minute, Will rushed over to her side and hugged her tightly. Emma, meanwhile, remained unmoved in her position as her mind began to process what was happening at the moment. When he felt her body tense, realization dawned on him. He quickly pulled away, but kept his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I'm probably getting my germs all over you and-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence. Emma pulled him back towards her, much to his surprise and delight, in her own initiated embrace. All that time, the only things she could her focus her attention on were the warmth of his breath and the scent of his cologne, the latter of which lingered long after their arms parted.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you. When you walked away, I thought you'd be gone for good…"

Will trailed off as he recalled their encounter two days ago. Her soft lips caressing his, the beautiful brown eyes that stared back at him as he caught his breath, her smile, ever enchanting- for once in his life, everything was right. He needed her. He loved her. Now that they could finally be together, he wasn't going to let her go so soon. But apparently, she was.

His heart sank as she sighed, shook her head with such a sad look, picked up her box, and walked away without a word. And he couldn't do anything but watch as the light of his life slowly disappeared from sight, her suppressed sobs making the scene all too unbearable to endure. Moments later, he was alone in the hallway once more, the clacking of the guidance counselor's high heels against the linoleum floor now replaced with the sound of his own cries.

"I'm glad you decided to come back."

Really, he couldn't be any happier- and it showed.

"Let's face it, Will. My heart is in McKinley, with the kids…," Emma paused, a playful smile forming on her lips. "…and certain Spanish teachers."

Will kept a straight face, much to her surprise. It wasn't exactly the response she'd expected.

"I knew it."

_Knew what?_ Emma fumbled in her mind for anything intriguing that he might've found out about her. Nothing turned up. Luckily for her, she didn't need to wait long to find out what it was.

"It's that Gomez guy isn't it?"

A grin, which Emma thought was completely adorable, surfaced on his lips. His gesture was returned promptly as she caught up with him and decided to play along- "How'd you know?" -much to his amusement. A round of laughter ensued.

They joked around for quite a while, like children without a care in the world. How Emma wished that it would never end. Eventually, though, she knew that the inevitable had to be addressed. When Will suddenly grew quiet, she knew exactly what was coming.

"What about Ken?" he finally found the courage to ask, albeit a little too hesitantly.

Emma's features took on somber expression as soon as she heard the coach's name. "I tried, uhm, calling him a few times over the weekend. Nine times, in fact. But every time I'd hear a ring on the other end of the line, I put the phone down. I just can't bring myself to talk to him, seeing how much misery I'd caused him for the sake of my self-interests," she explained, recalling her failed attempts.

She tried to keep her tone as neutral as possible, which is quite an effort itself, what with the lump that found its way down her throat. However, her voice still trembled every now and then. "But it's obvious that running away wouldn't solve anything," she concluded after a brief pause. Her vision got blurry as tears began to form.

Will only had the words she offered him a few weeks back to say. "You can't blame him, Emma. You're a lot to lose."

Emma couldn't disagree more. "No, no, you are. Not me," she opposed, shaking her head furiously. She took in a deep breath before continuing on. "Open your eyes and take a good look at me. I'm a mess, ironic as it may be. I wear gloves when I ride on escalators. I take three showers a day, four when it rains and the ground gets all muddy. When I was nine, I couldn't sleep one night because my dad didn't hang this portrait in my room straight and I was too short to fix it myself. I can't recall the last time I enjoyed eating ice cream or taking a dip in the local pool on a hot summer day. You know what, I can't even ride this damn bus without blaming myself for forgetting to bring a face mask to protect me from all the germs! Now tell me, Will, what's there to lose?"

Her shoulders shook as she caught her breath. An uncomfortable silence had now settled between the two. Emma shifted in her seat in an effort to shake off the uneasiness she felt as she waited for what he had to say.

"Everything," Will answered not long after, in a tone so genuine that Emma's heart skipped a beat.

It was the only word that encapsulated all his sentiments, yet he felt that it still wasn't enough. But he knew just how to make it perfect.

"…and more," he added, his voice dropping to a near whisper.

He cupped her face with his hand and wiped the tear drops rolling down her cheeks with his thumbs. A jolt passed through Emma's body as his skin came into contact with hers. She gazed into his brown eyes with all the love and respect that she had for him. He smiled, reassuring as ever, and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead and shortly after, her lips. It was brief yet chaste, conveying all his emotions which words cannot even begin to describe.

They stayed like this, their bodies close and their hearts even closer, in a span of time that however long seemed to pass all too quickly.

Will pulled back slightly as realization dawned on him. "My engine couldn't have picked a better day to die on me," he half-joked, his face still a few inches away from her own.

This reminded her about why she was there in the first place. Of all things, she never would've expected that her once much-dreaded bus ride would turn out to be one of the best 'mistakes' she had made in her life. "It must be destiny," she mumbled absentmindedly.

Will chuckled as he repositioned himself on his seat. He then turned towards her, a huge smirk drawn on his face. He'd been meaning to ask her something the moment he stepped on that bus, but never got the chance to do so until now.

"So what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

As they talked about everything and nothing, they were too preoccupied with each other's presence that they failed to notice the teenaged girls across the aisle who had been watching their every move. Instead of their earlier weird looks, however, they now stared at them wide smiles and a starry look in their eyes.

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**I hope I pulled their lines off right. Review please! I'd really appreciate some feedback. :)**


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